Tens of thousands of workers have downed tools this year to request pay deals that keep up with the rising cost of living.

It has left the public having to deal with train strikes, overflowing bins, gridlock in the courts and disruption to other services such as mail deliveries.

There could be further strikes through the winter and next year, as doctors, nurses and teachers are in dispute with employers over pay.

Though most disputes involve a range of issues, the main one is pay.

Prices are rising at over 10% per year, the fastest rate for 40 years.

That means workers are seeing their living costs rising faster than their wages, leaving them worse off.

Workers in many industries belong to trade unions, which are organisations that represent their interests to management and negotiate on their behalf about pay, jobs and conditions.

Where those unions have not been able to get a pay deal they feel is fair, and haven’t been able to agree a compromise, they vote on whether to take industrial action.

At the most extreme, this means going on strike where workers refuse to do their jobs to try to persuade their employers to give in.

Workers can also take less drastic measures to put pressure on their bosses, such as refusing overtime. Doctors and nurses won’t completely stop work as that would put lives at risk.

Industrial disputes have definitely been rising since the pandemic. In 2019, on average 19,500 days a month were lost to strike action. In July, the figure was 87,600, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The most high-profile strikes include:

A number of polls have asked whether the general public support strikes.

A poll at the end of October by Savanta ComRes found that 60% generally support workers taking industrial action, with 33% opposed.

Asked about strikes over pay and conditions, support varied widely between different industries, with nurses and teachers attracting the most.

In the summer, polls on the rail strike from Ipsos and Opinium found roughly equal numbers supporting and opposing it.

Staff wages are a major cost for most businesses and some of the companies which are in dispute with their workers say they do not have enough money to give pay rises.

Royal Mail and the rail companies say they want to agree new working practices alongside the pay award, which has proved another point of dispute.

Doctors, nurses, and the striking lawyers are paid by the government. Their salary is set by a review process which published its findings in July, presenting millions of workers with below-inflation pay rises.

The new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned of a “profound economic crisis” with “difficult decisions to come” – which will make it hard to make a more generous pay offer to public sector workers.

The Bank of England worries that if workers win big pay rises, their employers will have to put prices up. That pushes up inflation, causing workers to request bigger pay rises, creating a “wage-price” spiral which could lead to a sustained period of inflation.

However, workers are in a strong position as unemployment is extremely low. There are more vacancies than people looking for work and many employers are short of workers.

The Trades Union Congress argues that on average workers earn less than they did in 2008 – the longest period without an increase for 200 years.

Pay varies hugely between industries, job roles and how senior workers are.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics found that railway workers earn an average of £43,000. Train drivers earn the most – average £59,000 – while travel assistants earn £33,000.

Nurses in England earn from £27,000 to £55,000, with the average nurse earning around £32,000 according to the RCN.

A number of disputes have been resolved this year, with some workers being awarded pay rises of 10% or more.